562 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



Station to be readily eaten by lambs when mixed with 9 parts coarsely 

 ground corn. When fed with corn and poor-quality, over-ripe blue- 

 grass hay, both feeds low in protein, 10 per ct. of tankage was as effective 

 as 18 per ct. of linseed meal in balancing the ration. (270) 



II. ROUGHAGES FOR SHEEP 



857. Legume hay. Hay from the legumes is far superior to any other 

 dry forage for sheep feeding. Fortunately legume hay may be provided 

 in all sections of the country in the East clover and alfalfa, thruout 

 the West alfalfa with clover and field peas in certain sections, and in 

 the South the cowpea, beggarweed, and other plants. It is more import- 

 ant for sheep than for cattle that the hay be fine-stemmed and leafy. 



The superiority of legume over carbonaceous hay for sheep is shown 

 in the following summary of 5 trials, averaging 99 days, in which rations 

 of clover and alfalfa hay with corn as the sole concentrate, have been 

 compared with rations of timothy or prairie hay and corn, with enough 

 cottonseed or linseed meal to balance the ration : 



Legume hay vs. carbonaceous hay for fattening lambs 



Daily 

 gain 

 Lbs. Lba. Lbs. Lbs. 



Initial Daily Feed for 100 Ibs. gain 

 Average ration weight gain Concentrates Hay 



Legume hay, 71 lambs* 

 Clover or alfalfa hay, 1.5 Ibs. 



Corn, 1.3 Ibs ........................ 63 0.32 388 455 



Carbonaceous hay, 63 lambs* 

 Timothy or prairie hay, 1.0 Ib. 

 Corn, 1.0 fb. 

 Cotton- or linseed meal, 0.2 Ib ......... 63 . 24 505 422 



*Average of 1 trial by Burnett (Nebr. Bui. 66), 1 by McDonald and Malone (Okla. Bui. 78), 1 by Morton 

 (Colo. Bui. 73), and 2 by Skinner and King (Ind. Bui. 162). 



Tho the lambs fed timothy or prairie hay received a well-balanced 

 ration, those on clover or alfalfa made much larger gains and required 

 less feed per 100 Ibs. gain. So long as there is an ample supply of good 

 legume hay of any kind, sheep show little desire for other dry roughage. 



858. Adding a protein-rich supplement to corn and legume hay. Fat- 

 tening lambs given all the corn and, legume hay they will eat, con- 

 sume enough of the protein-rich hay, even toward the end of the fat- 

 tening period when on a full feed of grain, to balance the ration quite 

 well. Indeed, the rate of gain is usually increased little or even none 

 when a protein-rich supplement, like linseed or cottonseed meal, is 

 added to the ration. In 9 trials at various stations 47 the effect of adding 

 linseed or cottonseed meal to a ration of corn and clover hay has been 

 studied. On the average the lambs fed only corn and clover hay gained 

 0.313 Ib. per head daily, while those fed linseed or cottonseed meal in 



47 Carmichael and Hammond, 3 trials, Ohio Buls. 187, 245; Coffey, 1 trial, 111. 

 Station, information to the authors; F. B. Mumford, 1 trial, Mich. Bui. 113; 

 Skinner and King, 4 trials, Ind. Buls. 162, 168. 



